Thursday 28 April 2011 10.42 EDT
First published on Thursday 28 April 2011 10.42 EDT

Three-quarters of claimants who apply for sickness benefit are found fit to work or abandon their claims before completing their medical assessment, the latest figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have revealed.

However, initial assessments of people's fitness to return to the workplace have been overturned in almost four in 10 cases in which individuals appealed.

If found fit to work, an individual can no longer claim ESA, but they can ask for the decision to be reviewed or launch an appeal.

The DWP figures, which cover the period from 27 October 2008 to 31 August 2010, show that 887,300 of the 1,175,700 applicants for ESA failed to qualify for any assistance.

Of those, 458,500 (39%) were judged fit to work, while 428,800 (36%) ditched their claim. A further 16% were placed in the "work-related activity group", where individuals are deemed able to take on some level of work but still receive a level of ESA support.

Over one-third (36%) of people who made a claim for ESA between October 2008 and February 2010 and were found to fit to work at assessment have appealed, with the original decision overturned in almost four in 10 cases (39%).

The DWP said it expected that more appeals from assessments made during this period have yet to be heard.

Chris Grayling, the employment minister, said the number of claimants assessed to be fit to work underlined the need to reassess people still on the old form of incapacity benefit – a process the government began rolling out last month.

"Once again, we have clear evidence of the need for change in our welfare system," Grayling said.

"We now know very clearly that the vast majority of new claimants for sickness benefits are in fact able to return to work.

"That's why we are turning our attention to existing claimants, who were simply abandoned on benefits. That's why we are reassessing all of those claimants, and launching the work programme to provide specialist back to work support."

Grayling promised that the government would continue to provide "unconditional support" to those who cannot work. "But for those who can, it's right and proper that they start back on the road to employment," he added.

Commenting on the figures, Dr Marc Bush, the head of research and public policy for the disability charity Scope, said: "The crucial test for ministers is how many of the people found fit to work have succeeded in getting a job. Disabled people face multiple, complex barriers to finding jobs.

"Until the government builds a more accurate test that gives people access to the right kind of support, their admirable aim of getting disabled people into work is destined to fail."

Neil Coyle, the director of policy with the Disability Alliance charity said: "The statistics would be more valuable if they reflected full, completed assessments, including any appeals.

"The current statistics fail to demonstrate the appalling waste of resources on an inefficient assessment process, which is being routinely overturned at appeal, with over 70,000 disabled people overturning an initial 'fit for work' decision in 2009/10 alone.

"'Welfare to work' is the mantra, and disabled people generally want to work, but the statistics also fail to reveal the numbers actually entering work as an outcome of reform. We know how many people change benefits, but not how many people enter and keep work."